Nobody ever wants to see their pet die, especially because of gun shots. But that's exactly what happened to a couple in Freeport on Independence Day, when their 2-year-old bull mastiff, named Max, was shot and killed by their neighbor.

Gabrielle Durant, one of Max's owners, shared her side of the story on Facebook and it didn't take long before the post went viral.

Most of the nearly 300 comments were offered condolences to the family and questioned the motives of any person who would pull a gun and shoot a dog. But was it against the law?

Probably not. The Freeport Police haven't released any official statement as of this writing, but people do reserve the right to shoot dogs in Maine if they feel threatened, or if the dog is threatening one of their pets or livestock. The neighbor in question owns livestock.

But as you can see in Durant's initial Facebook post, she names the neighbor in questions business, and that has led to a flurry of aggressive "reviews" being left on her business page.

In the end, it appears nobody will benefit from what went down on July 4th. The family lost a beloved pet, the business owner is now faced with tremendous backlash.